Pink Conspiracy
by Envo
Summary: Itasaku Non-Massacre. It is no surprise that Shisui learned to stay clear from their temporary female teammate after the incident; the girl just fights downright dirty whenever she and her cleaning ritual are concerned.


Title: Pink Conspircy

By: Envo

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.

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Pink Conspircy

* * *

It was the tenth mission of the month, and frankly Sakura had it with the debris and sweat coating her skin that she couldn't seem to scrub off of. As an active operator for her village, she had enough of wash down cottages and run down motels to make her skin crawl for the next three days. And on any other given day, she would rather seek refuge under the stars than sleep on mattresses stained with who-knew-what, hygienic issues aside. But at the moment, all she wanted was a hot shower and a good night sleep. There was just a limit to sanitary even when bathing in spring water.

_Someone_ had insisted for her active participation in this mission despite knowing she had just completed a mission with Team Seven. Saying she was dragged out of the village wouldn't be too far off the mark, so to speak; she wasn't given a choice. At this, she could only glared hard into the shadow of the one responsible for her bone-weary state. She grew to accept the conditions her body would be subject to as a kunoichi, but this was simply too much, even for her. Staking out in a bog with leeches lurking about for two days straight was just a start. And even though she had foreseen the situation to a certain degree, nothing seemed to go as planned whenever this particular team was concerned. The only thing she could do was to suppress the strong urge to shudder at the _things_ on her skin and beneath her nails.

She breathed a sigh when she noticed their subtle change of destination. They were still a day and a half away from Konoha, and thank the sky above, _someone_ finally had the brains to realize just how tired they all were. Luckily, the nearest village was only a few hours away.

Lucky for her, due to protocol she dominated a room all by herself while her male teammates shared another room. But the downside was, her luck with her longed hot shower ended cruelly with a damaged pipeline sign hanging mockingly on the facet knobs.

So after forcefully stopping herself from ripping the metal rings from its connector by reciting the list of clans residing in Konoha for three whole times, she stepped out of the tube with a towel wrapped around her body and contemplated her options. Summoning water through a water jutsu would draw unnecessary attention and submit herself in an unwelcomed hour-long lecture; however, on the other hand, going back down to the reception desk and seek assistance from the bold old man with his eyes lingered on places enough to earn hima heartfelt punch was absolutely out of the question. As her only choice slowly surfaced, so did the ache in her temples started to throb in rhythm. She just might be going through hell to get her shower this time.

With a sigh, she gathered her bag and paddled towards the fusuma separating her room from her teammates.

The moment her feet crossed the crumbling shikii of the plain fusuma, she immediately came under two sets of intense, scrutinizing gaze. Promptly ignoring the daggers drilling at her towel-covered form, she turned away from her two male teammates and hooked the sliding door shut. Her fingers lingered on the black, circular finger catch when a passing second thought crossed her mind. Quickly dismissing the idea, she let her hand drop. However, when there was still no indication acknowledging her presence, the level of ire sprung up and she swung around and frowned. One tatami mat away, Shisui sat cross-legged atop of an unrolled, wash-down futon. Despite the opened scroll spread across his lap, he showed no signs of reading. Instead, he was openly, blatantly staring at her—_oh, the man had some nerves!_

"Shisui-_san_, you are drooling." Bracing her right hand against her hip, she directed the extra syrupy statement towards the man in question and watched with satisfaction at the poorly concealed jerk across his shoulders. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. Men.

"What's the occasion, Sakura? I would gladly participate; just remember I'm fragile. A man can only take so much before he breaks, you know?" Fast to recover, the man known as Uchiha Shisui had the audacity to smirk at her while purposely let his eyes roam across her body. The bastard.

"I'll make sure to remember that warning when I—" raising her other hand, she made a move to clinch her fist tightly until her knuckles turned white, "—break _something_."

Contented with the sudden drain of color from Shisui's face, she moved her attention onto the other occupant in the room. Gazing farther in towards the right, she found Itachi leaning languidly against the wood door similar to the one in her room. Their eyes met in midair and Sakura found herself staring into blank, dark eyes that spoke of nothing expect the pointed look of questioning. As expected, what transpired between her and Shisui did not faze the stoic captain one bit. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"My shower is out of order. I need to borrow your shower."

The overhanging silence was broken heartbeats later by a non-too-quiet snicker. Opening her eyes, she glanced towards the bent figure and her brow furrowed. "What's so funny, Shisui?"

It was another moment later before the laughter stopped. "Try the reception desk downstairs, Sakura. You'll have better luck."

The frown deepened as she looked past Shisui, who was coughing and grasping in another laughing fit. Then she felt her heart sank as a strong wave of bad feeling overtook her. There stood Itachi with his arms crossed, legs slightly parted in a stance in front of the bathroom _and_ wearing a positively predatory smirk. Her eyes rounded as she stared with disbelief at the peculiar gleam implicated in Itachi's eyes. Then when she rounded on Shisui, she recognized the trademark impish smirk mirroring on his face.

"Brilliant as ever, cousin. Never knew you had it in you to…" The unfinished sentence was left dangling in the air as Shisui turned to regard her in pure glee, "what do you plan to do now, Sakura-_chan_? Go through by force?" By then, Shisui was hammering his fist at the empty spaces on the worn-down futon in time with the bouts of guffaw at the turn of events. "Just make sure you don't trash the place, _teammate_."

She glared up at the ceiling. After the initial shock, she could feel the returning tides of unadulterated irritation. She had long since used to being manhandled whenever she was around an Uchiha. But why, for Kami's sake, must they choose this instant to torture her? Just whose energy was spent in saving their necks from blood loss in that leech-infested puddle of mud? To think she even harbored a second thought about coming here, knowing that they needed the rest when all they have done was making her life miserable was more than enough to send her over the raging edge. Her eyes narrowed.

So this was how they wanted to play…

Flicking a stray strand of pink away from her cheeks, she crossed her arms mindful of the slowly slipping town and pursed her lips out of habit. She needed to think, and she needed to think _fast_. Awareness spread out to the brims against the wall, she knew she had no chance against either of the Uchiha if she merely took them on by force alone. And with her weapon pouch and uses of chakra out of the equation, she was left with very few choices. Having learnt the ways of life through a medic's prospective, she was more sensitive on certain aspects of her daily routine that would not be relented even for her friends, let alone two slave-driving teammates. She had more than earned her share of shower, and she was willing to use underhanded tricks to get what she wanted.

* * *

Itachi sensed her approach even before the fusuma slid open. He just reached the door when Sakura made her appearance from the corner of his eyes. And he blinked in mild surprise.

Smooth, long legs were the first things that caught his attention as his eyes followed the curvy lining of a woman previously hidden under a full body suit. Discarded was the standard ANBU uniform—that he knew from memory was marred with streaks of dried blood and cuts— and gone was the common breast binding, the Sakura before them stood cladding in nothing but a bathing towel that scantily covered her small form, her hitai-ite was nowhere to be found.

Silently questioning the reason why his brother's teammate choose to appear before them in such a state, he paid little heed to the exchange between his older cousin and their female teammate placed temporary under their team. Till this day, he still could not fathom the reasons Shisui held in favor for the fiery-tempered kunoichi instead of that Inuzuka woman that he so cherished. But if anything else, he acknowledged skills. As a Jounin acting-in ANBU, Haruno Sakura was much on par with the majority elites, perhaps in the courtesy of the Copy Ninja. And though operating in his team as a backup, she managed to turn his eyes with her intelligence and her overall performance.

And now as the kunoichi in question stood before him in her rarely displayed lithe and curvy glory, he could not miss the distinctive feminine grace she held in her steps or in the little gestures and habits she had. Forced to face what he had pointedly locked away months ago for a better peace of mind and maintaining a favorable environment that allowed his team to run without a hitch, he started to examine the resurfacing emotions and oddly place reactions whenever concerned his pink-haired teammate. Then there were the constant pestering mantras from the clan elders broaching on topics he would rather not bothered with.

"My shower is out of order. I need to borrow your shower."

Perhaps now would be a good time to test his theory out. He was always strangely entranced with her boldly displays of emotion, and he was curious in discovering just surprise she would bring in this situation; just as he was curious in uncovering the woman underneath the protective fiery temper.

But when he caught sight of the pink tongue that darted across the supple, lower lip before disappearing, all thoughts seemed to fade into the background. And there it was again, the wayward control that seemed to just spiral out of hand. However, before he was given a chance to examine the disturbance, Sakura seemed to transform before his eyes.

Her entire demeanor softened into feminine pliancy and the slow sashaying steps that led her directly towards him made him stilled at the sudden transition. He quickly glanced towards Shisui and found himself witnessing a strange, rare contemplating look that had the suspicion level in him rising.

Surely it wasn't what he was thinking…?

* * *

Breathing in deep to calm her nerves, she moistened her dry lips and made her first move. Her eyes remained downcast as she casually strode past a wide-eyed Shisui.

"Let me get this straight. So unless I'm able to get past you," she stopped at the edge of the tatami mat and lifted her eyes slowly, "I'm not going to get what I want?" She let her words linger sweetly in a throaty purr that rang in the compacted room. Taking note of stiffness in Itachi's posture from her peripheral view, she daringly took another step that brought her just out of her reach his reach.

Her teeth went to her lower lip as she leaned most of her weight on her right while her left knee bent just enough for her toes to graze at the smooth, straw-knitted mat. The movement jarred at the overlapping edge of her towel and parted the ends lightly along her thigh. And with the quickly heating gazes tossed in her way from both occupants in the room, she knew she had attention wholly on her. So she ventured on.

"I suppose I could go downstairs for the owner, or ask my _other_ neighbor for a shower…" then she was flicking her index finger against his vest-clad chest, "or you can just move aside." Her giggles bubbled up her throat as she danced away from her _taichou_.

After placing a reasonable distance between them, she turned away from him and momentarily basked in his detectable agitated aura with an inwardly smile. She had just covered the distance between them with a flash step and landed into his personal space. And judging from the narrowing eyes glaring her way before she slipped away, she knew she had caught him by surprise. If the flick were anything like the normal chakra-enhanced punches she favored, he wouldn't be standing so still in front of her object of interest. And they both knew it.

The sudden flare of warmth jolted her out of her reverie and her eyes widened at the silent breech of space. Schooling her expressions, she spun around. But she wasn't prepared for the heat-intensified gaze that nearly drowned her in those two endless pools of black or the retaliating tilt to the corner of his lips that almost made her mind go blank. It wasn't until she caught the knowing look from Shisui just over Itachi's shoulder did she wake from the dazzling sight. Belatedly, she recognized the familiar and potentially dangerous tendrils of warmth lurking not too far below her skin and knew that time was running out for her.

It was time to speed thing up. "Abandoning your post so quickly, Itachi-_san?_" She had to smile at the way his posture stiffened at her comment and the way his eyes broke away from hers almost… guiltily?

"Ridiculous."

Her smile widened. "Well then, since you are being so awfully _honest_, I'm going to tell a secret."

Sakura raised her arms slowly towards Itachi and intentionally ignored the warning gazes and the not-so-subtle backing steps until she had her wrist resting leisurely on his shoulders. Then she bent her elbows and drew Itachi down towards her till she felt the soft brush of his hair against her cheek.

The hand that previously rested on her shoulder suddenly dropped down to circle her waist as if in response to her actions, causing her to pause for a moment to inspect the situation. But curiosity tugged at her, so she pulled him lower still. Then, hiding the mischievous smile she sported across her face in the crook of his neck, she tiptoed and blew softly into his ear. The muted quiver spread under her fingertips and the clinching of jaw from her peripheral view only added fuel to her smirk.

"Coming between a woman and her needs," she dropped her tone into a low rasp, "will get you into _big_ trouble, Itachi-_san_."

The arm around her waist dropped unceremoniously and she stepped up to brace the suddenly unsteady male before her. She met his accusing glare head on with another rise of brow. "Did you forget that I am a medic _as well as _a kunoichi, _taichou_?"

Then Shisui flickered to her side with a gaping mouth while supporting the younger Uchiha. "What did you do, Sakura?"

She smirked and showed the twin pair of onyx eyes her right index finger. "Nothing more than disrupting his chakra circulation from a few _kyusho_. The effect will wear off a few minutes later. So if you will excuse me, _gentlemen_, I will now borrow your shower."

She then backtracked to the fusuma to retreat the bag she dropped at the start of his _game_. Then she sauntered past the pair of Uchiha trouble and swung the wooden door open.

But _his_ bland voice made her halted at the doorframe.

"We are not finished."

Feeling the boost from her recent victory, she looked over her shoulders and grinned.

"Bring it."

* * *

Shisui hid a smirk behind his mask as they traversed the forest in a ground-eating pace. After a reasonable night of rest, he was sure they would be arriving at the gates of Konoha by the end of the day. He peered through his mask and gazed at the two figures leaping before him with a widened smile.

He could read the familiar tenseness Sakura's shoulder blades and even further up, Itachi's silent and sure steps that led them through countless of missions. Frankly it wasn't anything new. But as their long time teammate, he enjoyed the perks in knowing the team well enough to call them family; so even one as he could tell that something was up. Or else he wouldn't have noticed careless exchange of glances that morning, or the way they seemed to brush by each other more often than necessary… or the way the pair seemed to move in perfect synchronization, hoping from one tree to another plainly before his eyes.

He didn't bothered to ask what happened last night after he left his cousin sitting on the spread out futon. He wasn't the dense person he pretended to be, so when he saw that particular look that literally screamed 'revenge', he bolted for Sakura's room instead. And judging from the lack of pain he usually received whenever Sakura found him in her room and her lack of presence throughout the night all together, he was most certain that he didn't need to guess to know what transpired between the two.

At this, he could only sigh. Really, there was no need for Fugaku-jii and Mikoto-baa to worry at all (that was what he said!). Heck, there wasn't even a need for him to bestow his knowledge about the other gender to his younger cousin. That Itachi was well on his way before anyone knew it. He let the gleeful chuckle carried away along with the passing wind.

_Setting up his young cousin with the apprentice of the current Hokage: Mission accomplished._

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A/N: Creation upon Challenge: New Years Eve one-shot. Hope you liked it. Review and have a Happy 2010!

Envo 12/31


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